Vicki J

Diamondntheruff - Where are you from? It sounds like we have to do about the same thing. Maybe a little different.

Yeah, out here we have a bariactric surgery unit at the Kaiser in So. San Francisco. I kept getting mixed messages from the people in patient services and so I just called the people who actually do the surgery. It was so releaving to have someone finally give me a definite answer. I was also able to ask some of the questions I had as to the process and stuff. They were really great. If your Kaiser sends you out to someone, I would find out who and call them. Even one of the doctors that I used to see had wrong information. When I talked to her about WLS she said that I wasn't big enough. LOL 260 lbs., 5'4", BMI 43, with co-morbitities and I wasn't big enough. Yeah, right. So, I was looking into changing this fall to CalPers Choice when I found out that she was wrong. So I contacted my new PCP and was on my way. Let me know if I can answer anymore questions. Good luck!

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's really sad when you're "lucky" enough to be obese enough. Have you ever thought of putting quarters in your pockets?

It doesn't surprise me that it can take 9 months to a year. From what I've heard the processes are different between the two. When they told me 3 to 6 months I thought they had to be being careful about getting people's hopes up. I didn't even hear about my next appointments for 4 or 5 weeks after orientation. Then they were 4 weeks away.

What I called the bariactric surgery unit directly when I was trying to find out. I, too, had the same frustrating run around when I was looking for answers. After going directly to them I had all the answers I needed. You should be able to find out the number through patient services or by just going online.

Nikki07 - It seems to depend on where you are as to whether or not Kaiser pays for the band. Northern California has the availability of the band but we have to travel to the bay area. They just started doing the band in February of this year. I have heard some people in the Colorado area have gotten it through Kaiser. So far what I have had to do is get referred by my PCP. Then I went to an orientation where they told us all about the proceedure and criteria for getting bariactric surgery. My next steps will be to go see the director of bariactric surgery, nutritionalist, psych appointment, and then go to see the surgeon. I do have to take a Life Styles class. I have had to eat as directed in their pre-op meal plan in order to loose a certain amount of weight and to learn how to eat right so I have it down after I get banded. I will be told on Aug. 3rd by the director just how much weight I need to loose but it seems that most of the time the most that is required is 10%. Some people will be required to loose less due to their body shape. Pear shaped is good. The pre-op meal plan isn't that hard. It's basically 1200 calories, 3 meals per day, and the amount of Protein, veggies, fruit, etc. is set for you. The process is a slow one. It seems that they are pretty overwhelmed with the amount of people in the pipeline. At the South San Francisco facility alone they have 900 people in the pipeline. It WILL take you 3 to 6 months to get through it. But, depending on your plan, the cost can make it worth your while to do it through Kaiser. It does get frustrating with things happening so slowly but I figure that it will just be that much less weight I have to loose after I get the band. After all, we have all lost weight on diets, it's keeping it off that makes it defeating. Hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you want.

Liz1531 - Kaiser in Northern California does pay for the lapband. They started doing the proceedure in February of this year. I live just out of Sacramento on the Reno side and have to go to South San Francisco for all of my appointments. So I know that only a few of the Kaisers do the proceedure. I have heard that the Long Beach Kaiser does the proceedure. But if you have some place that does the bypass they should do the band. When did you last check?

Sandra - Thanks for the info. Yep that helped a lot. My husband was worried about me being out of commission for a long time. Depending upon when they schedule me and what rides come up right after that is whether or not I'll ride on the back of his or ride my own. I have a sister in College Station, TX that would like us to ride out there but that's still over my head on my own bike. We're hoping to get up to Brookings, OR this weekend but I'm not sure that will happen. :eek: My husband has injured his back somehow and so we may have to put that off for a while. But we'll get some riding done around here. Once again, Thanks!

It's good to see all the bikers on this thread because I'll probably have a few questions about riding and the band. The first one is how long was it before you could ride/drive again after surgery? I just started riding in December of '05 and I'm really looking forward to riding without the extra baggage. I haven't seen any of you address this question. Did anyone have restrictions on that or other things?

If your friend is going throught Kaiser, I would think that they would probably go through So. San Francisco. I'm from the Reno side of Sacramento and that's where they sent me. The other bay area place is Richmond.

Warrior - How's the journey going for you?

Yeah, babs0101, you do have to keep at it. It gets depressing sometimes but if you keep your eye on the total picture you will make it. If your insurance does not have an exclusion, they should cover you. You'll have a great appeal if they don't.:nervous Like I said, I'm trying to put it in my head that I'm setting up for the period of time right after I get the band until they hit my sweet spot. I still have some things to work on like eating slower and smaller bites. If I don't get this down, I'll be PBing my brains out. I have nightmares about standing at the counter talking to a customer and starting to slime. LOL Keep working towards your goal and keep in touch so we know how you're doing.

Yeah it's a trade off. Whereas you get your surgery faster it's less expensive for me. Fortunately, I have Kaiser so all of the fills and aftercare are covered to. So I have to be patient. But that's ok as long as I see movement on their side. I really hated not knowing when those appointments were going to be because I felt like I was once again just dieting. But I'll spend the time between now and then just getting used to eating right and loosing a little weight. I'll have to do that right after the band is placed anyway until they find my sweet spot. I'm just happy that I'm getting it so this darned weight will stay off.

I'm having the band done. I don't like the idea of someone re-routing my insides. I have done careful research on all the surgeries available and this is the one I am comfortable with. I like the idea that it is forever adjustable. I have heard of people with the other surgeries that end up stretched out and needing to be banded. That's just not my cup of tea. I just found out that my psych appointment is the 24th of August and they told me there is a Lifestyle class on the same day that I may be able to attend. That would mean only 2 days off which would be better. I'm guarding my sick leave so that I have enough for all of this. They told us at the orientation that there are 900 patients in the pipeline at SSF. That's why it's taking them so long to get us our appointments. It's sad to think that there are that many people out there that are obese. Of course, there are a lot more that can't get the surgery for one reason or another. I'm so happy that I have the insurance to cover it because I don't know how I would get it otherwise.

Yahoo! It's about time...I got my next 2 appointments. I go and see the director of bariactrics and the dietitian on the 3rd of August. I know, that seems like a long ways away but at least there is life out there. I was really beginning to feel like I would never hear from them again. It also says that there are more appointments scheduled that they can't show online. Whatever that means. So I head for San Francisco and get these appointments done with. I'm so happy. From what I hear they are scheduling surgeries for September and October right now. I suppose that will mean that I will get done with this and end up having the actual surgery in October or November. Boy they sure make this difficult. Rhonda39 - The way I understood it is that we need to loose the weight for 3 reasons. 1) to show them that we can follow the meal plan after the surgery, 2) so that the instruments will reach our stomachs, and 3) so that they can move our livers aside to get at our stomachs. I don't mind loosing the weight when I know that they are moving forward on my behalf to get the appointments. I know that they have a lot of people doing this but they could have it set up so that they can schedule the people of each orientation as it happens. Maria - I guess we must go through some agony to appreciate that when we get the surgery we will be all done with that. LOL I talked to the appointment lady down there today and she said that they were scheduling your group, too. So you must have gotten a couple of your appointments. pjrugby - Wow it's great to hear from someone overseas who has had the band done. Yeah I would be bent out of shape too if they hadn't told me all of that. I have been doing a lot of research on a few boards and knew that up front. You would think that the hospitals/doctors wouldn't expect us to do that and would provide that information. I know that Kaiser briefly mentioned it at the orientation. I really don't think they explained it much though. Well, I have to get back to work. I just wanted to let you guys know that I've gotten scheduled for the next appointments.

Rhonda39 - Did you go to the SSF or Richmond orientation. I can't figure out how come some of us have had their appointments and others haven't. I know that they try to get us "out-of-towners" our appointments together but this silence is killing me. I mean God schedule us and then say you're scheduled for August 1st. At least we would feel like we're working towards something. As it is you feel like you're back on Weight Watchers and doing it by yourself. Not a hi, bye, nothing. Yeah, I'm feeling the stress. I want to get this thing going. As it is I might as well be planning this next year. Can you tell ranting is my thing today.

Rhonda39 - When did you go through your orientation? I went through mine on the 5th and I'm still waiting to get my first appointment. Where are you located?

Oops...hit the wrong button. LOL Anyway, otherwise you don't have to get one. We do have to loose some weight prior to surgery. There is two reasons. One is that they want to make sure you can follow the plan and the other is that it shrinks your liver so that they can move it easier to get to your stomach and so that the insturments will be long enough. At So. San Francisco you will be told how much you have to loose by how you're built. People who carry more abdominal weight will have to loose more. Pear shaped people will have to loose less. If they gave you a phone number to the bariactric surgery unit, I would call them for any explainations. They required us to get an EKG prior to orientation if we hadn't had one within the last 6 months. I called and told them I had had a full on stress test just a month or so before but was told they couldn't access that. So, I had to get an EKG. I hope everything goes well for you. Keep in touch.

Pookie - Where are you from? From what I'm finding out the Kaisers are different as to how they do things. I'm from Northern California and my PCP reverred me and then they scheduled me for an orientation. The next step will be an appointment with Dr. Stiles in bariactrics. They seem to be pretty easy to get through although the process takes 3 - 6 months to get through. They suggest you get a sleep apnea test if you think you have it. Otherwise

Well, it looks like I've been outed for name dropping. LOL Hi ya Kim. Good to see you over here. I am also waiting for that little card or phone call that will make my day. Because I'm further away then the two of you (distance) I will probably just have to wait my turn and not be hoping for cancellations. They try really hard to get us out-of-towners done all in one day. I appreciate that since it would take at least 1/2 days sick leave to come in for each appointment otherwise. But I keep hoping to see them on the web page. I figure I will see it there before I'll get the card. My daughter went to the orientation with me. She received a call the other day from the bariactrics unit and they asked her if she was still interested in the surgery. She told them yes and then they asked when she could do the orientation. Boy was she laughing about that. She informed them that they had already sent her through orientation at which time the Kaiser lady told her they would update her file. It's good to know they are on top of things. I won't know how much weight I'll have to loose until I get to my next appointment with Dr. Stiles. She measures us and then tells us how much we need to loose. But I've pretty much put the 10% thing in my head so that I won't be disappointed. I'll be really upset if they tell me I need to loose more. Time to get to work. Glad to hear from all of you and hope our journeys are fast and successful.

I'm going to orientation tomorrow! Yahoo. I haven't even started trying to loose weight yet because they weigh you at orientation and I don't want my BMI too low. Once they weigh me they will want me to loose the 10% and I'll go down fighting if they say I'm too thin then. That just won't fly. But since they take people with a BMI of 40 and then ask them to loose weight, I don't think that will happen. Otherwise, we would hear about that scam all over the message boards. There are a few other people on the boards. Mammatee is going to the orientation tomorrow and Kim J just went on the 22nd of May. Kim's already loosing and is down 9 pounds. Wednesday is the start of my "pre-op meal plan" (we're not supposed to call it a diet". Keep me posted on your journey, warrior. I'll do the same.

Kaiser does do the lap band. I will be attending my orientation tomorrow. From what I was told, the process takes 3 to 6 months start to finish. I'm really excited about getting the band because I'm too am tired of fighting the battle. I'll start my pre-op meal plan on Wednesday. So the weight loss starts then. Hopefully, it won't be too long until I get the band.

They may consider this an outpatient surgery even though we spend the night. My mother recently had a mastectomy which I would never have considered an outpatient surgery but they kept her overnight in a bed near the recovery area and called it outpatient. Your guess is as good as mine. It will be great to compare notes. When I started this I couldn't find anyone on any of the boards that would even answer a question about Kaiser. Hopefully with all the Kaiser patients keeping in touch others will find out that they do it and what the process is. I almost changed my insurance because I couldn't find out if Kaiser even did the lapband and I was told by one doctor that I had to be a "lot bigger" before they would even consider me. My BMI is 42.6. If I hadn't kept pushing, I would have changed insurance companies in the fall and had the surgery done early next year. I would have also paid around $4K to get it done. I very happy I found out Kaiser does them. Since they haven't officially weighed me in for the weight loss stuff I haven't started on loosing the weight. I don't want to loose that lovely Water weight too soon. LOL According to Kim they might not make us loose a full 10% and it depends on how we carry our weight. I'm preparing myself to loose the whole 10% so I won't be disappointed. It'll be just my luck they will require the whole thing.

Hey fellow bikers - I'm just getting started on the trail to Bandlandia. How long did they keep you off your bike. Like Carol I just started riding last year. I started with an 883 Sportie but found that the Heritage Softtail fit me better. It looks like if I'm lucky my surgery will be scheduled for late summer or early fall. My DH is already having withdrawl symptoms from just thinking about not planning trips for us.

Hey warrior - Welcome! Well I'm just starting the Kaiser journey but I will update you as to what I have found out. I started my journey in early April. I had to get my PCP to refer me to the bariactric surgery department. That is located in San Francisco. I believe I received my letter confirming the referral around the 23rd. Within about 10 days I received my appointment for orientation which will be on June 5th. When you receive your letter for the orientation appointment you will also receive directions to get a chest x-ray and EKG if you have not had them within 6 months. They will also send you a lab slip for blood and urine tests. These must be done prior to going to the orientation in San Francisco. The x-ray, EKG and labs can be done at your normal Kaiser. One of our fellow Kaiser patients just went to the orientation this last Tuesday and came out feeling that things would take around 3 months from orientation to surgery. Following your orientation they will set you up a psych and dietitian appointment. You will also have to go through their lifestyle classes once a month until your surgery. They expect you to loose weight in between orientation and surgery and the amount will be determined according to how you carry your weight (i.e. in the stomach or hips). This is a pretty normal thing. Some places make you go on a 6 month supervised diet. So Kaiser isn't too bad. You will be weighed everytime you go to an appointment. Kim felt that the orientation was very good. I have heard from some people that the lifestyle classes are also very good. Oh yeah, you'll have to stay in the hospital overnight. I talked to the bariactric surgery center coordinator and she told me that the process usually takes from 3 to 6 months. I hope this helped. Let me know if you have anyother questions. It seems that Kaiser is a pretty good place to have it done. They've only been covering the lap band for a little while. They used to only do the gastric bypass. The cost will be determined by your plan, naturally. Mine will be $10 or less and my daughter's will be $250. I say that it's not only going to be great getting the band but we also get it for the best price in town.